The essence of a good romantic comedy is a formula so well known that most people could describe it before they finish reading this sentence. Take two real movie stars – at least in terms of chemistry – build tension for an hour as to whether they end up together or not, throw in a few bizarre subplots, and you have a flawless crowd pleaser experience. Light. Funny. Loved. And yet you can hardly see it in cinemas anymore.
It’s been almost 30 years since Hollywood was flooded with romantic comedies in cinemas. Gone are the days when you could experience films like “Sleepless in Seattle” (1993), “Pretty Woman” (1990) and “Harry and Sally” (1989) on the big screen. Today, rom-coms usually end up directly on streaming services, another drop in the sea of on-demand content.
In recent years, the genre has experienced a renaissance, with surprise hits like “Crazy Rich Asians” (2018) and the Sydney Sweeney-Glen Powell vehicle “Anyone But You” (2022) grossing $238 million and $200 million, respectively, in global revenue. But several filmmakers report ROLLING STONEthat studios remain hesitant to throw their full weight behind romances — despite these numbers. The April 10 release of “You, Me, & Tuscany” is a new test case for whether audiences will follow a romantic comedy to the cinema. But it also raises another question: Why does Hollywood still think rom-coms are too risky?
“This is sickeningly frustrating,” says Yulin Kuang, writer of the Netflix rom-com “People We Meet on Vacation” and director of the upcoming Emily Henry adaptation “Beach Read.” “I think everyone is cowards. Romances do well in the cinema because we’re starved for them. We want them so badly. The fans will come – as long as you give them a good film.”
Hollywood relies primarily on superheroes
For Hollywood bosses who haven’t yet written off the cinema system as a lost cause, finding audiences has become a matter of survival – and the only risks they’re willing to take are on superhero films, which hardly seem like a risk to them. The humble rom-com will never rake in as much money as big IP and superhero productions. But the box office results of the past five years show a significant decline in audience interest in the status quo. The last three Marvel theatrical releases – “Captain America: Brave New World”, “Thunderbolts” and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”, all released last year – saw sharp declines in their second weekend, making them among Marvel’s weakest films. Although these box office totals ($415 million, $371 million, and $500 million, respectively) exceed even the most popular rom-coms, they are a clear signal of changing audience tastes.
For comparison: Romantic comedies often have extremely small budgets, which makes it easy to recoup the investment. The Julia Roberts and George Clooney rom-com “Ticket to Paradise” (2022) grossed $168 million on a budget of $60 million. “The Lost City,” a 2022 action rom-com starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, grossed $192.9 million on a $68 million budget. “Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy” grossed $140 million in foreign revenue alone against an estimated budget of $50 million – making the lack of a theatrical release in the US seem like a missed opportunity.
This gap between production costs and potential profits has historically motivated studios to produce more romances, not fewer – paving the way for surprise hits. Perhaps the best example is “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” The film, which was released in 2002, was made on an indie budget of five million dollars. It was a huge success, grossing $350 million worldwide and is still one of the most successful rom-coms of all time. In today’s romantically hostile Hollywood, it would probably never make it into the cinema.
Institutional fear of romance
In a 2022 interview, director Judd Apatow noted that the studio system works best when small projects like romances arise in addition to the superhero behemoths – and don’t simply fall away. “Basically, studios want movies that make a billion dollars, and that’s where a lot of their attention lies,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “But when you’re putting a lot of money into an action franchise, it’s important for all studios to counter it with smaller budgets that have the potential for big profits.”
Despite growing evidence that audiences are returning to the genre, filmmakers continue to struggle to find institutional support for romantic projects. Just last week, writer-director Nina Lee sparked nearly 48 hours of controversy on Twitter when she reported that several studio bosses had told her they wanted to wait to see how “You, Me & Tuscany” did at the box office before giving her an answer about her new romantic comedy “That’s Her,” a rom-com starring Coco Jones and Kountry Wayne.
“Financially, the theatrical route offers a real opportunity to get back what you put into your project – especially on a low-budget film like ours,” Lee tells Rolling Stone. “Rom-coms typically make their money back. You don’t need $300 million to be profitable. I don’t understand why studios are so afraid of it.”
The pressure on films starring people of color
One possible factor: The pressure from studios increases exponentially when people of color play the leading roles. In 2019, after the overwhelming success of “Crazy Rich Asians,” director Jon M. Chu told Variety, “We couldn’t fail on this film. I hope that burden lifts; I hope it eases the pressure on other films.” Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to have had a lasting impact on the rom-com landscape.
With studios desperate to churn out mega-blockbusters, the reluctance to use the romance genre as a lifeline is unsurprising. And let’s be honest: not every rom-com is going to be a hit. But if Hollywood continues to relegate romances to the sidelines, Kuang says, it prevents classics from ever being created.
“When you do ’email for you’ [das heutige Studiosystem] sends – would he survive the way we love him? Would he even get the green light? Would a Meg Ryan or a Tom Hanks say yes?” asks Kuang. “If you make cynical decisions, you make cynical art. And people feel that.”
